In business machines especially of the retail and/or financial terminal type, there are usually provided a plurality of printing devices for accomplishing functions such as the issuing of a receipt of the particular transaction for distribution to the customer, the retaining or storing of all transaction information in the machine as a permanent record, and the printing of certain information on slips, forms, or like documents for retention by the business or the printing of certain information in a pass book or the like for the benefit of and return to the customer.
This invention is directed to the second above-mentioned function of retaining or storing a record of each transaction within the machine, commonly referred to as a journal or audit trail.
While various ways and means are known for accomplishing the driving and rewinding of a journal record in a machine, the common practice for providing such function is to provide a supply roll of the recording media, drive such record media past a printing station, and then rewind the media, with the printed transaction thereon, around a take-up roll or spool within the machine until such roll or spool is filled, whereupon same is then removed from the machine for auditing or like further processing. In one case, the take-up spool is separately driven from a main drive line which may also drive a different record media for a receipt or a slip transaction. In another case, the take-up spool is driven by means of the spool being in frictional contact with a drive member, the actual drive being accomplished from the member in contact with the record media and not by reason of an independent drive for the spool. Representative of the use of a ring or belt as a drive member for one type of journal or audit drive is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,638 to J. G. Savage